Pedal Powered Block Party with Andrew Thierry

Dec 23, 2019Posted by in Featured News, Music, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Pedal Powered Block Party with Andrew Thierry

Pedal Powered Block Party with Andrew Thierry

What’s up bike people, We’re excited to share one of the best dancing and musical moments from the pedal powered stage since the 2012 highlight performance of Rupa and the April Fishes at the Bicycle Music Festival. Check out the video! Filmed at Montclair Village.

Music lovers dance in the street to the authentic zydeco sounds of Andre Thierry, a Bay Area trio. A 10-bike system was enough to power a block party music stage. A local spin class called CRUfit showed up with 7 strong adult riders ready for a workout. 3 more bikes provided slots for the general public to hop on and help. The sound system used approximately 500W average during the hour-long performance, meaning that the average power required from each pedaler is about 50W. Power is stabilized and stored in the Pedal Power Utility Boxes, though its ultracapacitor is only large enough to provide a 2-3 minute buffer. Pedalers were coached to “keep it in the green” which refers to the level of the ‘Pedalometer’.

Pedal Powered Stage: https://oldsite.rockthebike.com/pedal-powered-stage/
Andre Thierry music: https://www.andrethierry.com/
Winter Williams Presents:https://www.instagram.com/winterwilliamspresents/?hl=en

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NAU Student Runs Green Events with Rock The Bike’s Most Compact Bike Powered Sound System

Nov 22, 2019Posted by in Blog, Featured News | Comments Off on NAU Student Runs Green Events with Rock The Bike’s Most Compact Bike Powered Sound System

NAU Student Runs Green Events with Rock The Bike’s Most Compact Bike Powered Sound System

A Look Inside Arizona’s 1st Bike Powered Concert organized by the students of NAU

NAU student Joanna Wheaton attended Rock the Bike’s pedal-powered concert at UCLA’s Ecochella in 2014, and she felt inspired by the potential for something like this at her school. Joanna is a part of her campus’ student environmental group — the Green Jacks — their goal is to reduce NAU’s environmental impact through student-organized, educational events. So this past year, Joanna led the way for her school to purchase one of Rock the Bike’s newest bike-powered packages. For Earth Jam 2019, NAU purchased a 10-bike system from us that we named “Party in a Box” because it stores so compactly when not in use, but is capable of powering  large sound systems for concerts. Students are able to demonstrate their resourcefulness by gathering bikes from their community, they just don’t have to take on the full responsibility of building their own system from scratch, something that is not easy to get right on your first try.  

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Your Name in Lights!

Oct 4, 2018Posted by in Featured News, Interactive Light Displays, sLEDgehammer, sLEDgehammer Related Products | Comments Off on Your Name in Lights!

Your Name in Lights!

 

LightBox in use at the 2018 New York State Fair. We calibrated it to be a fun challenge and attraction for kids. 3 kids working together can do it.

Fun, challenge and teamwork in action are the main benefits of our newest Pedal Powered Activity, the LightBox, an 8 x 8 Pedal Powered custom illuminated light sign that could be a hit for your org or company.

Having a multi-person activity like the Light Box leads to genuine teamwork moments at your events. We’ve seen this so many times in our concerts that it got us excited to create a team light challenge. It’s visible from hundreds of feet, making it an attraction. As people get closer they’ll see the bikes and get excited to take a turn. Coaching it is easy. Just help the riders on and use your hands, voice or a PEDAL! sign to start each challenge. You’ll see people high fiving as they bring your name to light.

Each logo requires its own individual creative approach to get the most from the available pedal power. For the NY State Fair we divided the classic I heart NY logo into its four letters/symbols, then wired each to one of the outputs of a sLEDgehammer circuit. When people pedal, more of the symbols turn on until they all enter a ‘party mode’ for a few moments. Then the game resets for the next group.
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1000 smoothies in 6 hours?!

Apr 9, 2018Posted by in Blog, Featured News, Fender Blender Pro | Comments Off on 1000 smoothies in 6 hours?!

1000 smoothies in 6 hours?!
Occasionally we attempt a really big smoothie operation, in which we show up with hundreds of pounds of fruit, ice, juices, etc., and get lots of people bike blending.
If this is what you’re going for too, here are the factors you’ll need to consider:
– Time (prep, setup, and the event itself)
– Ingredients
– # of Bike Blenders and enough space to position them
– # of pitchers
– Other kitchen gear: tent, tables, washing system, banners, waste system.
– size of your crew
– will you be sampling (giving away the rest of the pitcher)? Or will each person blend their own smoothie?

Last Wednesday we did a big gig at the Cal Campus in Berkeley. The client / partner was Under Armour and their event firm Engine Shop. The goal was 1000 smoothies in 6 hours with 10 Fender Blender Pros. We nearly hit the goal. We got a lot of things right and learned a lot too, and here’s a report of all that.

Set up time.

We showed up with a fully packed van at 8:30AM for an 11 O’Clock start time. Unloading with 4 people took 30 minutes, including positioning the bikes. By 9AM we were up to 5 people. With this size group we were able to set up the entire smoothie booth operation in 2 hours with time for coffee!

Crew size:

I planned on having a crew of 5 at the peak, but this wasn’t enough. We really needed a crew of 7. The event provided us 1 coach and our crewmember Caleb came on as a floater midday, to bring some things we forgot from the shop, and to help with the lunchtime rush. He stayed till the end. We had an experienced crew. Only their staffer was a newbie.
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Coming to a Spin Class Near You

Aug 20, 2017Posted by in Featured News, Roll Up Generator Stand | Comments Off on Coming to a Spin Class Near You

Rock the Bike has rocked events around the Bay Area with our message of pedal-powered revolution. We’re ramping it up – for the first time, people who take their daily spin class will wire back the energy generated by their workout into their electrical grid, helping to power their work place as they get inspired to bike towards a lower carbon footprint.

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Update on advocacy and giving

Feb 12, 2017Posted by in Blog, Featured News | Comments Off on Update on advocacy and giving

Update on advocacy and giving

We’re stepping up our giving and pro bono work more than ever before. Below is a rundown of what we’ve been up to lately. Thank you to all our customers; your purchases stabilize our operation and make this kind of direct social impact possible.

Paul and the BooLander recently rode the Climate Ride Death Valley, and used his network of friends, fans, and RTB fans to raise over $3600 for Climate orgs. Paul pitched in $1400 of that, covering the ride costs. Fundraising is still open!

boolander_climate rally_orange sweater-min

 

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